Tuesday, 26 November 2013

We’ve been talking on
our blog recently about supporting crisis decision making through information
management, and attempting to speed up the OODA Loop. On the last post we
highlighted the principles of managing decisions and making sure they achieve
what you intended them to. This post looks at how to actually take those crisis
decisions in the first instance. It is useful to have a decision-making system
that is thorough enough to be effective but not so laborious as to induce
delay. We also need a process that allows for intuition and experience to play
a part but doesn’t allow for sloppy analysis. The next seven questions are just such a
process.

(1) What is the situation and what does it mean
to you? - Understand as much about the situation as you can. Don’t ignore
aspects just because the information isn’t there or you don’t understand it.
Identify your critical information requirements and get them resolved. Once you
have a grip on what is actually going on be clear on the meaning for you, your
staff and your clients and any other interested parties.

(2) What end state result do I need to achieve
and why? Define the end state that you need to reach and why that is the
case, that is the unifying purpose behind what you are doing. This will inform and
focus the decisions you take. Make sure others are clear on this end state and
its rationale, as this will inform their decisions as well.

(3) What effects need to take place to get to
the end state? Define the key effects that need to be achieved to deliver
the end state. Effects are not tasks but rather the results of tasks. Examples
of effects might include enhanced staff confidence, client reassurance or
favourable reporting by the media.

(4) How can the effects best be achieved? Decide
how the effects can best be achieved and when and where this should take place.
This will help you set down the tasks that are required to deliver the effects.

(5) What resources are required? Take a
look at the tasks you have defined. See if they can be combined in some fashion
and then decide who is best to undertake each task. Allocate sufficient resources
to enable the tasks to be carried out.

(6) In what sequence do the tasks need to
occur? Set down the sequence that the tasks need to be carried out in to
achieve the desired effects. The sequencing of these tasks is effectively the
plan.

(7) How are the tasks to be controlled? Put
in place the measures that will enable the conduct of the tasks to be monitored
and controlled. This may include aspects such as timings for completion, reporting
processes, demarcated lines of responsibility, geographical boundaries etc.